GOOD MORNING. Our Ezekiel passage is probably the only Bible lesson that takes place completely in a Graveyard. My grandson Noah would love it unless he was actually there, then he would be terrified. We begin…
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
Not bodies, but bones. And Scripture makes a point of telling us that these bones were “very dry.” Meaning, they had been dead a long time. The birds had come to pick them clean, the animals had come to make sure as well, and the sun had bleached them in the open air. This is not a recent battlefield. It is a picture of total hopelessness, a graveyard with no graves. A Boneyard
Then God asks Ezekiel a question that almost sounds impossible: “Son of man, can these bones live?” If anyone else had asked that question, the answer would be obvious. Of course not. Dry bones do not come back to life. But Ezekiel knows who is asking. So he answers carefully and wisely, “O Lord God, you know.” It is a humble answer, but it is also a faithful one. Ezekiel understands that what is impossible for human beings is never impossible for God.
That’s our theme this morning! As we dig into this vision, the first thing we need to do is get our setting. We are in Babylon, with Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego. The people of Israel were already scattered by the Assyrians and now the Southern Kingdom of Judah has been destroyed and exiled as well. Because of this, the one place most Jews were not living anymore was Israel. They were scattered everywhere else, longing to go home.
The Temple had been destroyed, and Ezekiel himself had been carried into exile when he was a young boy. The book opens with him wistfully sitting by the Kebar River in Babylon, wishing God would punish the Babylonians.
Most of the people of Israel believed their story was over, fearing that they were about to become just another forgotten people, absorbed into the great Babylonian empire’s population. They felt like a nation of dead bones.
In verse 11, this is how the people themselves describe their situation. ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.’” They believed because of idolatry, they had been cut off from God’s promises forever.
And if we are honest, there are moments in life when we feel exactly that way. A relationship may seem too broken to repair. A habit or sin may feel impossible to overcome. Sometimes even our faith can feel weak and dry. During Lent, we’re invited to be honest about the brokenness of our hearts and the reality of sin in our lives. Lent is a season where we especially remember that without God, we are not merely sick or struggling, we’re DEAD. But like Psalm 23, the story does not end in the valley.
God tells Ezekiel to do something that seems crazy. He says, “Prophesy over these bones.” In other words, preach to them. Imagine Ezekiel standing in the middle of that valley, surrounded by skeletons, delivering a sermon. Bones do not have ears. They cannot listen. They cannot respond. And yet Ezekiel obeys. He says, “So I prophesied as I was commanded.”
And suddenly there is a sound. A rattling. Bones begin moving across the valley floor. They connected bone to bone, joint to joint. The scattered remains of a defeated army begin assembling into bodies.
Sinews appeared and muscles formed. Skin stretches across them. But the miracle wasn’t over. Verse 8 tells us that although the bodies were formed, “there was no breath in them.” They looked alive, but they were still lifeless.
Then God gives Ezekiel a second command. This time he is told to prophesy to the BREATH, calling it to come from the four winds and breathe upon the slain that they might live. The word used in this passage can mean breath, wind, or spirit. It reminds us that life ultimately comes from the Holy Spirit of God. It’s a call back to the Garden where God breathed into Adam and he became a living being, now the breath of God enters these lifeless bodies.
Ezekiel obeys again, and the breath comes. The bodies fill with life. And suddenly they stand up on their feet “an exceedingly great army.” What began as a valley of dry bones becomes a living people. Here’s the really cool part.
God then explains the meaning of the vision. The people of Israel believed they were cut off and finished, but God tells them that He will open their graves and restore them. He will bring them back, and most importantly, He will put His Spirit within them so that they will truly live. But God’s plans are far greater than the people of Israel ever imagined
Now here’s where we need the rest of Ezekiel 37, the part we didn’t read. In the other half of the chapter, God gives Ezekiel a prophecy which is probably more encouraging to us than it even was to Israel and Judah. And this is all why we read it in Lent. I say more encouraging, because we can look back and see just how it was fulfilled. Beginning at verse 15 of chapter 37, God promises to bring Israel and Judah back together. And he will send his servant David, in other words He will send the Messiah, to be king.
And what will the messiah do? Verse 22, he will make of the people one nation. Verse 26 tells us he will make an everlasting covenant with them and in Verse 27, he will dwell with them in their midst forevermore. And Verse 28 lets us know that the nations will know that the Lord sanctifies Israel, because the Lord will be in their midst as well. That’s a pretty good ending. And that’s the Hope of the Gospel.
St John makes a reference to this at the end of Revelation, when he describes the New Jerusalem. He says he did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. God has made His covenant. He dwells with His people. He is with us forever.
So the question from the beginning of the vision comes back to us: “Can these bones live?” Can broken lives be restored? Can hearts hardened by sin be changed? Can people who feel dried up, worn out, and cut off from hope live again?
If the answer depended on us, the answer would be no. Dry bones cannot raise themselves. But the God who spoke to Ezekiel is the same God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The same Spirit who breathed life into that valley is the Spirit poured out on His Church. And that means the answer is yes.
The God who said, “I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live,” is the God who still keeps His promises. Because the Lord has spoken, the Lord will do it, because the same Spirit who breathed life into that valley is the Spirit God gives to us, breathing new life into us in Christ.
